Amphiptere, Amphithere, or Amphitere is a term used to describe a type of legless winged serpent

Serpent

Serpent may refer to:* Serpent, a synonym for snake* Serpent , the name given to a snake in a religious or mythological context* Serpent , said to have tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden* Serpent in astronomy...

 found in European heraldry

Heraldry

Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...

.

Amphitheres in fiction

In the Dragonology series of fiction books, amphitheres are an American

Americas

The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...

 type of dragon, having only its wings as limbs, apart from four vestigial legs, which are very small and so unserviceable. There are three species of amphiptere (Draco americanus tex, Draco americanus mex, Draco americanus incognito) living in the Americas. They are based on the feathered serpents

Feathered Serpent (deity)

The Feathered Serpent was a prominent supernatural entity or deity, found in many Mesoamerican religions. It was called Quetzalcoatl among the Aztecs, Kukulkan among the Yucatec Maya, and Q'uq'umatz and Tohil among the K'iche' Maya...

 of mythology

Mythology

The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...

 rather than heraldic amphipteres, except for the Draco americanus tex, (or Am. amphiptere) which is depicted with moth

Moth

A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...

-like wings.

Appearance

Amphitheres are generally perceived to have greenish-yellow feathers, bat

Bat

Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...

-type green wings with feathered bone and a feather-tipped tail much like an arrow-tipped demon

Demon

call - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...

's tail. Other versions are described as entirely covered in feathers with a spiked tail, bird-like wings, and a beak-like snout. Even more uncommon is the description of one with legs.